[Kohlsdorf] The Lincoln Highway brings motorists into the heart of Mount Vernon's historic uptown neighborhood, which is filled with inviting restaurants and unique shops.

Let's visit Iron Leaf Press where antique printmaking meets contemporary stationary design.

(typewriter sounds) ♪♪ [Kohlsdorf] Danielle, we are in your storefront in beautiful Mount Vernon.

Tell us a little bit about it.

[Danielle Chargo] Sure, so this is Iron Leaf Press.

It's a letter press and stationary store.

We've been in business since 2012 and we moved down to this location in 2022.

[Kohlsdorf] What do people come in here for?

[Danielle Chargo] Right, well a lot of people come in here for greeting cards and stationery, but we also sell a ton of pens and pencils.

[Kohlsdorf] Yes, you do, walls of pens here.

[Danielle Chargo] Exactly.

We've added a lot of that retail stuff over the years, but we've also kind of done our own greeting cards and that's really where it started.

We've got lots of cards that we have designed here.

We design them and then they go on one of our printing presses.

[Kohlsdorf] Danielle, I'd love to hear what inspired you to open this shop and get started in the printing business in the first place.

[Danielle Chargo] Sure.

So, when I was in college, I did some printmaking and that's kind of where the love started.

I actually bought a press while I was still in college and then it kind of grew from there and I got another one and I got another one and I was like maybe I should start printing for other people and doing more greeting cards.

It's a really fun way to be a part of people's connections to other people.

You know, you sit down to write a greeting card to your friends or your family, you really think about that person and how they're going to receive it.

Same thing for like we do a lot of personal stationary.

It's that extra touch for you send a note to your friend and they know how much you thought about them.

[Kohlsdorf] Yeah, I love that note writing and letter writing isn't dead.

Right?

It's still alive and well.

[Danielle Chargo] Yes, it's still alive and well.

[Kohlsdorf] I would love to see how you make your products on the printing press.

[Danielle Chargo] Oh, absolutely, let's go take a look and we'll run one of the presses.

[Kohlsdorf] Okay.

♪♪ [Kohlsdorf] All right, so this is where the magic happens.

And this machine looks old.

Tell me about it.

[Danielle Chargo] It is.

Yeah, so this machine is a Chandler & Price platen press.

It was made in 1919.

These types of presses were primarily made for job printing, so flyers and business cards and things like that.

♪♪ [Danielle Chargo] Okay, so Brooke, what we're doing here is we're doing blind embossing.

These notecards we're printing on this press here.

Just roll it in.

We really love this machine.

I've spent a lot of time printing on this machine.

With our notecards we do a lot of embossing and it's really something that our customers love.

[Kohlsdorf] Why 100 years later are people still trying to find machines like this?

What makes them so special?

[Danielle Chargo] These presses can do ink, they can do blind embossing and it really adds a tactile feel to these notecards.

[Kohlsdorf] So, it gives you a kind of look that maybe some of the newer machines or technologies can't give you?

[Danielle Chargo] Right, so embossing it requires specialty embossing dyes and yeah, if you're running your copy machine at home it's not going to have the same effect.

This raises the name up out of the paper and we run these thick cotton stocks, which you can't necessarily run through a laser copier machine.

So, that's why we use this press here.

♪♪ [Kohlsdorf] Danielle has built her business around making paper goods the old-fashioned way, adding a special touch to every greeting card and custom piece of stationary she creates.

Her shop doubles as a print studio where customers might catch her in action on one of her four antique presses.

[Kohlsdorf] So, this is a different press.

Tell us about this one.

[Danielle Chargo] Right, so this is a Vandercook.

It's a proofing press.

It was built to proof type.

So, you'd set your type, all the individuals letters, take a pull of the press and then you study your sheet and make any corrections if you spelled something incorrectly, the original spell checker.

I have something special set up for you.

So, I'm going to have you pull the first press, or pull the first proof.

So, you put your right hand on the crank here, your left hand here on the paper and then just turn the crank and you'll see the print at the end.

[Kohlsdorf] Okay, I'm going to give it a try, give it a whirl.

Here we go!

♪♪ [Kohlsdorf] Oh, well imagine that!

Road Trip Iowa.

Danielle, I love this.

It's beautiful!

Thanks so much for teaching us a little bit about printmaking and showing us around your store, a great stop on the Lincoln Highway.

[Danielle Chargo] Absolutely, thank you so much for coming.

♪♪ [Kohlsdorf] Iron Leaf Press is open Wednesday through Saturday in uptown Mount Vernon.